Anne, by the Grace of God, Queen of Great
Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the ffaith &ca. To Our
Trusty & Welbeloved William Taverner Gent Greetings; We reposing especial Trust
& confidence in your Loyalty, Experience & abilities do by these present
constitute and appoint You to be Surveyor of such parts of the Coasts of
Newfoundland & the Islands adjacent, as the ffrench have usually fished upon,
and wherewith Our Subjects are at present unacquainted; You are therefore
carefully to discharge the said Office of Surveyor by doing & performing all
things necessary thereunto, pursuant to Our Instructions which You will receive
herewith; And You are to Observe & follow such further Orders and Directions
[-->99v] as You shall from time to time receive from Us or One of Our Principal
Secretaries of State. Given at Our Court at Kensington the 21st day
of July 1713, In the twelfth Year of Our Reign

By her Majesty's Command

Bolingbroke

1

The dates are in the Julian or Old Style; it was then
still customary for the year to begin on 25 March, not 1 January. Thus, this
letter was written in what we would regard as 1714, though by the Julian
reckoning, 1713 had not yet come to an end (hence the references to 1713-14).